Follow-up on Views Gathered at the Walk with Kids@Healthy Happy FUNday

Support for children and their parents/carers

Physical health
- In collaboration with the Education Bureau (EDB), the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, academia, professional associations and stakeholders in pre-primary education and child health, the Department of Health (DH) has launched the StartSmart@school.hk Campaign in the 2011/12 school year to promote physical activity for children, including reducing sedentary activities and screen time, as well as healthy eating among pre-schoolers across the territory to prevent childhood obesity through a school-based setting approach.
- DH, EDB and stakeholders from various sectors jointly launched the “EatSmart@school.hk” Campaign in the 2006/07 school year, with a view to tackling the worsening problem of childhood obesity. The campaign consists of three major components including “EatSmart School Accreditation Scheme”, “Salt Reduction Scheme for School Lunches” and “Joyful Fruit Month”, with a view to creating a favourable environment in which students are encouraged to eat an adequate amount of fruit through home-school co-operation.
- The Student Health Service (SHS) of DH aims to safeguard both the physical and psychosocial health of school children through health promotion and disease prevention services. Centre-based health services are provided at 13 Student Health Service Centres and four Special Assessment Centres. Students with unhealthy lifestyle (e.g. unhealthy eating habits, inadequate physical activity, etc.) are given individual counselling or referred to SHS dietitian or to Hospital Authority (HA) for follow up.
- Based on promulgating the “Health Promoting School” framework promulgated by the World Health Organization, DH launched the “Whole School Health Programme” which aims to assisting schools in systematically reviewing and formulating health promotion measures related to physical activity, healthy eating, mental health and social well-being, and to become a healthy setting for living, learning and work gradually. The Programme will be strengthened to recommend targeted school-based measures for physical activities, meals, etc. for each school to improve students’ physical and psychological well-being.
- The Government will formulate a life-course approach health promotion strategy having regard to Hong Kong’s demographic structure and the health needs of different social groups, and draw up health management plans according to different age groups and health statuses.
Mental health
- There are various complicated factors behind stress, its impact also varies among students. EDB has been reiterating that quality of homework is more important than quantity through various channels, including EDB Circulars, the Primary Education Curriculum Guide (2024), on-site workshops for teachers, and videos and comics for parents. Besides, schools should continue to review and refine their assessment and assignment (including homework) policies and make them accessible to stakeholders, according to their own context and student needs. EDB issued fax letters to all primary schools in January 2023, September 2023 and October 2024 to remind schools for enhancing student learning, fostering their healthy growth and balanced development.
- After school resumption at post-COVID era, EDB has taken specific measures, such as launching a new one-stop student mental health information website “Mental Health @ School”, delivered diverse and practical resources (e.g. school resource packs, parent tips and videos, etc.) to help different stakeholders in enhancing students’ adaptability. In addition, EDB also organised “Mental Health@School” Teacher Professional Network for teachers and arranged online seminars to help schools nurture students with active and positive attitudes when facing challenges.
- According to EDB’s observation, schools have strengthened student counselling after school resumption. Students’ physical and mental health were heightened through class management, individual counselling, and weekly assemblies on topics related to positive education and life education.
- The Health Bureau (HHB) launched the “18111 - Mental Health Support Hotline” in December 2023 to provide one-stop, round-the-clock support for people with mental health needs, rendering emotional and mental health support to persons from all backgrounds and of all ages (including parents/carers). Callers will be provided with service information or referred to appropriate service organisations based on their individual needs. The Hotline has now established referral mechanisms with relevant government departments/organisations, including the Fire Services Department, the Hong Kong Police Force, SWD and HA, as well as about 20 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) providing suicide prevention counselling services and mental health support services.
Welfare and social services
- Starting from 2021/22 school year, Social Welfare Department (SWD) has strengthened the supporting manpower for school social work services in secondary schools so as to enable the school social workers to provide more intensive counselling and group activities for the students in need.
- For early identification and provision of assistance to pre-primary children and their families with welfare needs, SWD has launched the social work service for pre-primary institutions in phases since the 2018/19 school year for more than 700 subsidised/aided kindergartens, child care centres and kindergarten-cum-child care centres. At present, there are 50 district-based social work teams providing services in their respective service boundaries in Hong Kong. Needy families may approach the social worker of the pre-primary institution that their children are attending for assistance.
- The Integrated Children and Youth Services Centres (ICYSCs) provide preventive, developmental, supportive and remedial services to children with special needs (including special educational needs), with a view to meeting the multifarious welfare needs of children and youth aged 6 to 24 in specific catchment areas. Adopting a total person approach, ICYSCs assist children and youth to develop life skills, potentials and problem-solving ability, enhance their personal development, strengthen their interpersonal and family relationships and build up social competence, in response to the crises and challenges encountered during their growth.

Support for children with special needs

Education service
- Schools are staffed with professionals including Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO), guidance personnel, school social workers and school-based educational psychologists, to provide students in need (including students with special educational needs (SEN)/learning difficulties, mental and emotional issues) with necessary support and guidance. The multi-disciplinary student support team led by SENCO would also motivate all teachers to adopt the 3-tier Intervention Model to cater for the learning needs of students with SEN.
- EDB provides serving teachers with structured teacher training programmes in special education pitched at three levels, i.e. Basic, Advanced and Thematic Courses. The Basic and Advanced Courses are designed to help teachers master the appropriate support strategies and skills, and to gain a more in-depth understanding of how to cater for students with SEN, including those with behavioural, emotional, social development needs as well as mental health needs. As for Thematic Courses, the course objectives aim at better equipping teachers with the knowledge and skills needed to cater for students with different types of SEN so that more focused support can be rendered to these students.
Health service
- HA’s psychiatric specialist out-patient clinics (SOPCs) adopt a triage system to ensure that patients with urgent or severe medical conditions who require early treatment are accorded with priority in follow-up and treatment. According to the level of urgency and severity, patients are triaged into Priority 1 (Urgent), Priority 2 (Semi-urgent) and Stable (Routine) categories.
- In view of the increasing service demand for psychiatric services in recent years; and to tie in with the recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Mental Health and directions on psychiatric services of the Government, HA has specifically set an additional target for psychiatric SOPCs in 2023, that is, the overall median waiting time for urgent and semi-urgent new cases should be no more than one week and four weeks respectively. The relevant target has already been achieved, ensuring that patients with urgent needs can receive treatment within a reasonable time. HA will continue to strengthen its psychiatric SOPC services and improve the waiting time for urgent and semi-urgent new cases, including increasing consultation quotas. HA will also take care of more psychiatric patients in need by strengthening its manpower and through the Public-Private Partnership Programme, as well as enhancing the services of psychiatric nurse clinics to allow patients to receive follow-up while waiting for SOPC services or follow-up appointments.
- HHB launched the Pilot Scheme on New Service Protocol for Child and Adolescent with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Comorbidity (ADHD+) to provide multi-disciplinary assessment, intervention and support services to children and adolescents suspected to have ADHD while they are waiting for HA services. Corresponding to the location of the HA clusters providing child and adolescent psychiatric services, five multi-disciplinary service platforms are established under the Pilot Scheme in different regions covering the whole territory. The service platforms are managed by NGOs to provide services for children and adolescents suspected with ADHD. The core team staff for each service platform comprises clinical psychologist, nurse, occupational therapist and assistant social work officer, providing timely assessment, intervention and support with a medical-social collaboration model for children and youths in need.
- The Child Assessment Service under DH has maintained its service during pandemic and has adopted a triage system to ensure that children with urgent and more serious conditions are accorded a higher priority for assessment upon preliminary assessment by nurses. The actual waiting time for assessment depends on the complexity and conditions of individual cases.
Welfare and social service
- There has been a continuous improvement in the waiting time for various pre-school rehabilitation services. The Government regularised the pilot scheme of the On-site Pre-school Rehabilitation Services (OPRS) in 2018/19 school year with service places increased from 3 000 to 7 000 in 2019/20, and to over 10 000 in 2022/23 school year. With the regularisation of the Tier 1 Support Services in September 2023, integrated with OPRS and extended to cover nearly 900 pre-primary institutions, providing comprehensive and timely support are provided to pre-school children with different levels of special needs through inter-disciplinary service teams under a school-based and integrated approach. OPRS has achieved zero waiting time in 2024-25.
- In the long run, SWD has since March 2022 incorporated the planning ratios of various rehabilitation services including pre-school rehabilitation services into the Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines to facilitate service planning and development in the community.

Support for parents/carers of children with special needs

EDB launched the “SENSE” website (sense.edb.gov.hk) in the 2021/22 school year to provide information on the policies, measures and resources related to integrated education and sharing of practical experiences among schools to facilitate parents’ easy access to the latest information and online resources on integrated education for supporting students with SEN. In particular, the “Catering for students with SEN - Joyful Online Learning at Home” series provide parents with useful resources to guide students with SEN to sustain learning at home and master more skills in learning and social adaptation. In addition, to support parents in taking care of their children with SEN, EDB has published the Parent Guide on the Whole School Approach to Integrated Education, a pamphlet on Early Identification and Intervention Programme for Primary One Students with Learning Difficulties, and a series of pamphlets on nurturing children with different types of SEN. These publications have been uploaded onto the SENSE website for parents’ reference.
School social workers, in collaboration with community stakeholders, organise talks, groups and programmes etc. for students and their families in order to enhance students’ mental health and stress resilience, as well as making referrals to meet the needs of students.
To enhance support for the parents and relatives/carers of persons with disabilities (PWDs) (including carers of children with special needs), SWD has established 19 Parents/Relatives Resource Centres in the territory to provide support and professional advice for them to learn how to take care of PWDs in their families, as well as to facilitate them to exchange experiences and support each other. These Parents/Relatives Resource Centres also organise various types of programme, including interest classes and parent-child activities, therapeutic groups, community education programmes, care skills workshops, social and recreational activities, etc.
To strengthen support for carers, SWD regularised the “Scheme on Living Allowance for Low-income Carers of Persons with Disabilities” (the Allowance Scheme) in October 2023 to provide carers of PWDs from low-income families with allowances to supplement their living expenses. Carers of PWDs who are on the waiting lists for any specified rehabilitation services subvented by SWD (including special child care centres), special schools with boarding placement under the EDB or infirmary service of the HA are eligible for the Allowance Scheme.

Support for children of ethnic minority and their parents/carers

The Government is committed to encouraging and supporting the integration of non-Chinese speaking (NCS) students into the community, including facilitating their early adaptation to the local education system and mastery of the Chinese language.
EDB has all along been providing NCS students with all-encompassing learning support from pre-primary to secondary levels through diverse strategies, including curriculum development, learning and teaching resources, teacher training, professional support, additional funding, multiple pathways, parent education and support for parents, etc., to help NCS students master the Chinese language and integrate into the community. These measures vastly benefit schools, teachers, NCS students and their parents.
The government policy of encouraging and supporting the integration of NCS students into the community, including facilitating their early adaptation to the local education system, is delivering results. With the implementation of a series of enhanced measures for supporting NCS students since the 2014/15 school year, the number of publicly-funded schools admitting NCS students has significantly increased.
EDB will continue to strengthen support for NCS students to facilitate their mastery of the Chinese Language for integration into the community. These measures include designing diversified learning materials under the Online Chinese Language Self-learning Resources for NCS students to help them extend their learning and consolidate what they have learnt in class; offering after-school Chinese language courses for lower primary NCS students using adapted learning materials for the Youth Chinese Test; expanding the Summer Bridging Programme to include NCS students progressing to Primary 5 and Primary 6 starting from the 2023/24 school year to provide more comprehensive and continuous support for their Chinese learning; and increasing the number of schools that provide school-based life planning services for NCS students to help them set personal goals and plan for the future.
EDB has commissioned NGOs and a tertiary institution to provide a series of parent education programmes for NCS parents starting from the 2020/21 school year, with a view to helping parents support their children’s learning, encourage their children to master the Chinese language, and have a more comprehensive understanding of the multiple pathways for their children. NCS parent education programmes are designed with reference to the Curriculum Frameworks on Parent Education for kindergartens, primary and secondary schools developed by EDB to give guidance to NCS parents on the adoption of positive parenting approaches and a healthy lifestyle, help them learn more about their children’s emotions and behaviours, as well as enhance their awareness and understanding of the resilience and mental health of their children. EDB will continue to organise parent education activities for parents of NCS students and the Parent Education Resource Booklet for Parents of NCS Students is launched in November 2024 to facilitate them to support their children’s whole-person development.
EDB will continue to strengthen Chinese learning support by providing after-school Chinese language courses, enhancing the Online Chinese Language Self-learning Resources, organising cross-school teacher learning communities.